My Very First MerleFest!

Hey -- This is they guy I had dinner with last night! (I don't suppose it matters that before yesterday I didn't even know who he was, does it?)



You see, thanks to the generosity of an old friend of My Awesome Husband Greg, we attended our very first MerleFest yesterday. The tickets were unexpectedly offered on Friday, and amazingly, everything just fell into place, and there we were!

As soon as we arrived and had a chance to check out the extensive program, we both felt drawn to the Austin stage, where, at that very moment, billed as part of the ongoing "Greatest Acoustic Blues Show on Earth," Pat Donohue was entertaining folks piled high above him on the side of a hill. What a fabulous beginning to what would turn out to be a wonderful day!

We spent the afternoon wandering from stage to stage, trying to map out some sort of an itinerary for ourselves, knowing only one thing for certain -- that we wanted to end up at the Watson stage at 7:45 for Emmylou Harris. But oh, the wonderful sights and sounds -- and smells -- that besieged our senses...We couldn't stay on one course for more than a few minutes!

(Note: We did end up at the Watson, and see Emmylou we did -- on a gigantic TV screen which was clearly visible from our seats about a mile away from the stage. Of course you could hear that beautiful voice from anywhere on the campus!)

Naturally, it was the scents that eventually got us -- right to the food tent. And although the aromas turned out to be more enticing than the actual food, it was still nice to be able to sit down with some likeable folks (surrounded by some not-so-likeable flies) and fill our bellies with something. (Thai noodles with veggies for me, and an Italian sausage sandwich for Greg. Oh, and what was probably the best sweet tea I've ever tasted.)

My favorite part, though, was when Pat Donohue -- the very same Pat Donohue of Our-Very- First-MerleFest-Artist-Ever fame strolled over with a plate of food and asked if he could sit at our table. I was immediately struck dumb, and Greg soon got up and started doing whatever it is he does when he's surrounded by a bunch of new people and things to see. But the nice couple sitting next to me kept the gab going by getting him to talk about his experiences on Prairie Home Companion. He was such a nice guy -- I wish I would have thought to have him sign my program. (You know, for my son, who wasn't able to be there with us. He really loves bluegrass music, you know. Right, Dominic?)

After dinner, our wanderings took us past the Americana stage, where the Kruger Brothers were just finishing up their gig -- and boy, am I sorry I missed that one! If I were Paula Abdul, I'd have a whole bunch of words I could use to describe how those guys sounded. But I'm just me, so all I can come up with is Awesome! I wish you could have been there Bloggees -- I just know you would have loved them too!

Well, that entire day was just darned near perfect for me -- including the weather! One of the most fascinating things was the people -- the vast number of them and the fact that no one seemed cranky or irritable. Not even the little kids. Hell, not even me! Clearly what this world needs is more bluegrass music!


OK. I guess I do have a couple of complaints: The porta-john with man-pee all over the seat (I know it was a man because women don't do that!) and the massive cloud of grill smoke that began wafting overhead when the wind changed after dinner. That eventually started a fire in my lungs, and we had to leave before Emmylou was finished. I surely do hope she didn't see us sneak out!

You know, I'm not even going to mention the misinformation given to us by the Boy Scouts regarding the destination of the shuttle bus we boarded at the end of the day. What the heck -- we were eventually reunited with our car, and I've had happy music in my head all day. I just hope it's still there tomorrow, too!